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I am 22 years old and I suffer from Chronic Migraines (usually 4 or 5 times a week), Anxiety Disorder (Daily anxiety issues), and Severe Insomnia (There have been many times where I have stayed up for 3 days straight and absolutely cannot go to sleep. For the migraines I have tried almost all of the prevention meds and well as the abortive meds (currently on fioricet and norgesic forte but they have both stopped working). I have tried Valium, Ativan, Vistaril, and about 6 different kinds of antidepressants (which made me crazy when I was on them) and I have tried literally every OTC sleep aid and every prescription sleeping pill that is available. Everytime I take any kind of medication, one of two things happen. After taking a medication for 2 or 3 days it completely stops working and has no affect at all for any of my conditions. OR they have the exact opposite affect on me that they should have (Ex: I was given verapamil as a prevention migraine med and instead of lowering my blood pressure it raised it every single day that I was on it. I know that there are others that have the same problems as I do and I am wondering if there is a reason that my body metabolizes medications so fast and I build up a tolerance to it within days. Is there some kind of condition, genetic marker, or imbalance in my body that would explain this. Every doctor I have done to has given up on me because they cannot find medications that will work for me. Most of the time the doctors thinks that I am just faking the issues that I have with medication and none of them take it seriously. I don't know what to do anymore. Is there some kind of test that will tell a person how fast their body metabolizes medication or some other way of proving that I am not lying to them? I really need help because I have no clue what to do know. I still suffer from my conditions daily and I cope as best I can but there are days that I can't even get out of bed, or I will have panic attacks and there is nothing I can do about it Any help would be greatly appreciated because I can't deal with all of this much longer

P.S. I have never abused drugs or alcohol in my entire life and I don't even like being on medications at all, but know it is absolutely necessary for me to have them or I wouldn't be able to function at all. PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks for your Reply!

49 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceI am 22 years old and I suffer from Chronic Migraines (usually 4 or 5 times a week), Anxiety Disorder (Daily anxiety issues), and Severe Insomnia (There have been many times where I have stayed up for 3 days straight and absolutely cannot go to sleep. For the migraines I have tried almost all of the prevention meds and well as the abortive meds (currently on fioricet and norgesic forte but they have both stopped working). I have tried Valium, Ativan, Vistaril, and about 6 different kinds of antidepressants (which made me crazy when I was on them) and I have tried literally every OTC sleep aid and every prescription sleeping pill that is available. Everytime I take any kind of medication, one of two things happen. After taking a medication for 2 or 3 days it completely stops working and has no affect at all for any of my conditions. OR they have the exact opposite affect on me that they should have (Ex: I was given verapamil as a prevention migraine med and instead of lowering my blood pressure it raised it every single day that I was on it. I know that there are others that have the same problems as I do and I am wondering if there is a reason that my body metabolizes medications so fast and I build up a tolerance to it within days. Is there some kind of condition, genetic marker, or imbalance in my body that would explain this. Every doctor I have done to has given up on me because they cannot find medications that will work for me. Most of the time the doctors thinks that I am just faking the issues that I have with medication and none of them take it seriously. I don't know what to do anymore. Is there some kind of test that will tell a person how fast their body metabolizes medication or some other way of proving that I am not lying to them? I really need help because I have no clue what to do know. I still suffer from my conditions daily and I cope as best I can but there are days that I can't even get out of bed, or I will have panic attacks and there is nothing I can do about it Any help would be greatly appreciated because I can't deal with all of this much longer

P.S. I have never abused drugs or alcohol in my entire life and I don't even like being on medications at all, but know it is absolutely necessary for me to have them or I wouldn't be able to function at all. PLEASE HELP!!!

I would try other techniques for controlling pain since medicines don't seem to work well for you. Try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, massage, biofeedback, etc. Migraines, anxiety disorders and insomnia may all respond in a positive way to these things, particularly CBT.

If you wanted to see a geneticist to check on the genetics of your problems with meds, do so, but they are expensive. I don't know if insurance will cover it or not.

Take care, Annette

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceI would try other techniques for controlling pain since medicines don't seem to work well for you. Try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, massage, biofeedback, etc. Migraines, anxiety disorders and insomnia may all respond in a positive way to these things, particularly CBT.

If you wanted to see a geneticist to check on the genetics of your problems with meds, do so, but they are expensive. I don't know if insurance will cover it or not.

Take care, Annette

An_223848 responded:

Well do you also have trouble metabolizing food or other things?

I have metabolizing issues as well, but I also metabolize food really really fast. Yesterday I ate 4 doughnuts & a koloche & a bag of fruity snacks, AND I can say, it felt like I ate NOTHING......I still felt very empty. (Yes, I am underweight)

I take more than usual on OTC stuff, like advil/aleve. I am on B12 & Vit D because I am always low on those so I have to take them daily to keep it to where it does not cause me any muscle/bone pain.

On my ambien my dr. has me on 20mg because 10mg MIGHT let me sleep for about 2hrs, at least with 20mg I can get 4-5hrs, BUT I can only take it once every 2-3 weeks because it won't work for me if I take it nightly.

I am also on thyroid medication (thyroid surgery). So I am pretty sure I have metabolism issues.

All that being said, however, I am not on any pain medication so I don't know if your body only has issues with pain medication or other things your body absorbs.

I have metabolizing issues as well, but I also metabolize food really really fast. Yesterday I ate 4 doughnuts & a koloche & a bag of fruity snacks, AND I can say, it felt like I ate NOTHING......I still felt very empty. (Yes, I am underweight)

I take more than usual on OTC stuff, like advil/aleve. I am on B12 & Vit D because I am always low on those so I have to take them daily to keep it to where it does not cause me any muscle/bone pain.

On my ambien my dr. has me on 20mg because 10mg MIGHT let me sleep for about 2hrs, at least with 20mg I can get 4-5hrs, BUT I can only take it once every 2-3 weeks because it won't work for me if I take it nightly.

I am also on thyroid medication (thyroid surgery). So I am pretty sure I have metabolism issues.

All that being said, however, I am not on any pain medication so I don't know if your body only has issues with pain medication or other things your body absorbs.

I'm in the exact same boat as the first poster- lindsey and empathize. I too never used drugs & never drank alcohol. I was an EKG Technologist right out of High School until I got too sick to continue working in 2001. They all tested for drug/alcohol abuse frequently so I couldn't use these things if I wanted to! I'm a bit of a control freak and anything that takes away my control is NOT FOR ME! But my medical problems are far worse. I started with a herniated disk with an annual tear in 2001 at age 34. I soon developed bilateral (both leg) severe sciatica. Next had two minor heart attacks from Vioxx (thanks Merck!). They tried every anti-inflamitory, NSAID, and muscle relaxer and nothing had any effect at all. I didn't even get the side-effects that supposedly "everyone" gets from muscle relaxers like drowsiness. The only non-narcotic that helped a little was Neurontin which cost me $2 each before I left FL & moved back to NYC (2003) and got Medicare/Medicaid after FL made me flat broke making me sell everything I owned for medical bills. In FL, they got me on 15mg hydrocodone w/90mg Tylenol & prescribed 2-3 every 4 hours. I built a total resistance to that after 6-months!In NYC they tried Morphine IR w/ER- no effect at all, then even went to Dilaudid- again little to no effect. So they tried Methadone which helped immediately, but the dose had to be raised to 200mg a day (100mg twice a day) after a year. Once it was at that dose I was fine. I never had any QT interval issues or PVC's (even with the heart attacks), so they continued the Methadione for 7-years. But then thast hospital went bankrupt and they basically were ordered to get rid lof all their long-term "difficult" patients. I would always fight for my legal rights according to the Patient's Bill Of Rights so they gtot rid of me.I've been suffering non-stop ever since for the last 14-months now. No doctor will give Methadone at that dose thanks to all the celebrities killing themselves with it and alcolhol (the death mix)! I've been to over a dozen Pain Management clinics in & out of hospitals and NO ONE CARES anymore! I honestly know much more about ALL the pain meds than any doctor I've met yet! THERE'S SOMETHING RADICALLY WRONG WITH THAT! I've never seen hospital employees have such a poor attitude across the board in 16-years of working in hospitals!!!I can't tell you how many days I just wanted to die. For the past 9-months I've been getting 80mg of Methadone from a clinic & six (yes 6!) 800mcg Fentanyl lolipops a day. But the Fentanyl stops working every two weeks or so. Then I have to get a House Call doctor see me costing $500 out of pocket to get 360 pills of 10mg Opana (oxymorphone). I have to take (12) Opana in ONE SHOT every 6-hours just to get the pain to 6-7 out of 10! I NEVER ONCE GOT ANY "EUPHORIA" FROM ANY OPIATE! Nor did I ever get any stomach problems. I get my liver & kidneys tested every 6-months because eventually these pills are going to kill me, but if they don't: the pain will. All they have to do is put me back on the Methadone and PROBLEMS SOLVED- but no one will do that! It's one brick wall after another... Every month I try to find another solution, BUT THERE ISN'T ANY! I have no family & no friends doing a damn thing to help me with anything. They all ran the other way when they realized how sick I was! I even wrote city & state officials, the AMA, DEA, Social Workers, and the like and they either can't help me or don't bother to respond. Nice, right?Doctors are all paranoid to give any prescriptions for strong opiates thanks to all the people illegally using them to get high. They don't want to get sued and that trumps helping ANYONE at this point! Then Obamacare is coming and doctors are turning away Medicare/Medicaid patients (one reason I can't find a good pain doctor) so they can make as much money as they can now before 2013.

BE AFRAID PEOPLE, BE VERY AFRAID! Anyone have a solution for me?

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceI'm in the exact same boat as the first poster- lindsey and empathize. I too never used drugs & never drank alcohol. I was an EKG Technologist right out of High School until I got too sick to continue working in 2001. They all tested for drug/alcohol abuse frequently so I couldn't use these things if I wanted to! I'm a bit of a control freak and anything that takes away my control is NOT FOR ME! But my medical problems are far worse. I started with a herniated disk with an annual tear in 2001 at age 34. I soon developed bilateral (both leg) severe sciatica. Next had two minor heart attacks from Vioxx (thanks Merck!). They tried every anti-inflamitory, NSAID, and muscle relaxer and nothing had any effect at all. I didn't even get the side-effects that supposedly "everyone" gets from muscle relaxers like drowsiness. The only non-narcotic that helped a little was Neurontin which cost me $2 each before I left FL & moved back to NYC (2003) and got Medicare/Medicaid after FL made me flat broke making me sell everything I owned for medical bills. In FL, they got me on 15mg hydrocodone w/90mg Tylenol & prescribed 2-3 every 4 hours. I built a total resistance to that after 6-months!In NYC they tried Morphine IR w/ER- no effect at all, then even went to Dilaudid- again little to no effect. So they tried Methadone which helped immediately, but the dose had to be raised to 200mg a day (100mg twice a day) after a year. Once it was at that dose I was fine. I never had any QT interval issues or PVC's (even with the heart attacks), so they continued the Methadione for 7-years. But then thast hospital went bankrupt and they basically were ordered to get rid lof all their long-term "difficult" patients. I would always fight for my legal rights according to the Patient's Bill Of Rights so they gtot rid of me.I've been suffering non-stop ever since for the last 14-months now. No doctor will give Methadone at that dose thanks to all the celebrities killing themselves with it and alcolhol (the death mix)! I've been to over a dozen Pain Management clinics in & out of hospitals and NO ONE CARES anymore! I honestly know much more about ALL the pain meds than any doctor I've met yet! THERE'S SOMETHING RADICALLY WRONG WITH THAT! I've never seen hospital employees have such a poor attitude across the board in 16-years of working in hospitals!!!I can't tell you how many days I just wanted to die. For the past 9-months I've been getting 80mg of Methadone from a clinic & six (yes 6!) 800mcg Fentanyl lolipops a day. But the Fentanyl stops working every two weeks or so. Then I have to get a House Call doctor see me costing $500 out of pocket to get 360 pills of 10mg Opana (oxymorphone). I have to take (12) Opana in ONE SHOT every 6-hours just to get the pain to 6-7 out of 10! I NEVER ONCE GOT ANY "EUPHORIA" FROM ANY OPIATE! Nor did I ever get any stomach problems. I get my liver & kidneys tested every 6-months because eventually these pills are going to kill me, but if they don't: the pain will. All they have to do is put me back on the Methadone and PROBLEMS SOLVED- but no one will do that! It's one brick wall after another... Every month I try to find another solution, BUT THERE ISN'T ANY! I have no family & no friends doing a damn thing to help me with anything. They all ran the other way when they realized how sick I was! I even wrote city & state officials, the AMA, DEA, Social Workers, and the like and they either can't help me or don't bother to respond. Nice, right?Doctors are all paranoid to give any prescriptions for strong opiates thanks to all the people illegally using them to get high. They don't want to get sued and that trumps helping ANYONE at this point! Then Obamacare is coming and doctors are turning away Medicare/Medicaid patients (one reason I can't find a good pain doctor) so they can make as much money as they can now before 2013.

I know what you mean!! I got this rash about a month ago that itches like crazy!! Docs didn't know what it was. Meanwhile I'm staying up all night itching off half my skin and only getting an hour or two of sleep a night. Because of the severe sleep deprivation...I have had a continuous migraine with accompanied nausea. Which means i've been walking around feeling like my head is going to explode and not being able to eat because of the nausea. My whole body hurts and aches because not getting sleep has made me really clumsy so I keep falling down and running into things. On top of all that...the sleep deprivation, migraines, not being able to eat, and not being able to do anything about it gives me panic attacks like every couple of hours. When I went to the ER to ask them, literally, for sleep...they gave me 1 mg ativan even though I told them that it would not work.They are basically saying you can't sleep because I think your lying to me!!

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceI know what you mean!! I got this rash about a month ago that itches like crazy!! Docs didn't know what it was. Meanwhile I'm staying up all night itching off half my skin and only getting an hour or two of sleep a night. Because of the severe sleep deprivation...I have had a continuous migraine with accompanied nausea. Which means i've been walking around feeling like my head is going to explode and not being able to eat because of the nausea. My whole body hurts and aches because not getting sleep has made me really clumsy so I keep falling down and running into things. On top of all that...the sleep deprivation, migraines, not being able to eat, and not being able to do anything about it gives me panic attacks like every couple of hours. When I went to the ER to ask them, literally, for sleep...they gave me 1 mg ativan even though I told them that it would not work.They are basically saying you can't sleep because I think your lying to me!!

We more than likely both have much better than average livers, kidneys, and/or thyroid glands. The tyroid speeds up our metabolisms to the point that it burns most medications up so fast that they have little effect, short term effect, or no effect at all. A healthy person would love to have what we do, but it's nothing but a headache (no pun intended) for us.

I too have weird reactions to some medications. For years in my youth doctors told me I was allergic/very hypersensitive to anti-histamines. They almost killed me with it while hospitalized for brochitus at age 15. From what I've heard over the years from dozens of doctors: that's one of the rarest reactions there is to a medication (anti-histamines specifically). Now if I take (20 ) OTC Benadryl it has absolutely no affect???

After 17 NIGHTMARISH months I finally got into a Pain Clinic that will give me the Methadone 100mg twice a day (200mg total) which keeps my pain between 3-5 out of 10 most days (I can handle that). They said that it's getting harder & harder all across the country to find a pain management clinic that will give more than 80mg a day of Methadone for pain only like in my case. The reason only is the doctor's fear of losing his/her liscence on the less than 1% chance it may cause a heart abnormality (meanwhile the same doctor was pushing Arthrotec on me & I already had TWO heart attacks from Vioxx at age 37???). Plus you have to already have what's called a long QT interval, or have the Methadone cause a long QT interval: I've NEVER had either in the 7-years I was on Methadone, or the 6-months I was off it during the last 17-months..I was literally one week from doing ANYTHING it took to stop the excruciating pain.

THERE IS HELP OUT THERE! You really need someone helping you- because I know the depression that's caused making one phone call after another to doctors/clinics only to be let down time after time. The worst is the secretary or nurse telling you they give the medication & dose you need, then you waste your time & energy to go to them only to be let down in-person no matter what you say to them.I have no one helping me, so I had no choice.

I know the symptoms you are having all too well.

My new clinic is in Beth Isreal Hospital in NYC which is a long painful trip, but I have no choice. I had heard they have the best pain clinic in all NY state. From what I've seen so far, that is 100% correct and I have very good first impression skills.

We more than likely both have much better than average livers, kidneys, and/or thyroid glands. The tyroid speeds up our metabolisms to the point that it burns most medications up so fast that they have little effect, short term effect, or no effect at all. A healthy person would love to have what we do, but it's nothing but a headache (no pun intended) for us.

I too have weird reactions to some medications. For years in my youth doctors told me I was allergic/very hypersensitive to anti-histamines. They almost killed me with it while hospitalized for brochitus at age 15. From what I've heard over the years from dozens of doctors: that's one of the rarest reactions there is to a medication (anti-histamines specifically). Now if I take (20 ) OTC Benadryl it has absolutely no affect???

After 17 NIGHTMARISH months I finally got into a Pain Clinic that will give me the Methadone 100mg twice a day (200mg total) which keeps my pain between 3-5 out of 10 most days (I can handle that). They said that it's getting harder & harder all across the country to find a pain management clinic that will give more than 80mg a day of Methadone for pain only like in my case. The reason only is the doctor's fear of losing his/her liscence on the less than 1% chance it may cause a heart abnormality (meanwhile the same doctor was pushing Arthrotec on me & I already had TWO heart attacks from Vioxx at age 37???). Plus you have to already have what's called a long QT interval, or have the Methadone cause a long QT interval: I've NEVER had either in the 7-years I was on Methadone, or the 6-months I was off it during the last 17-months..I was literally one week from doing ANYTHING it took to stop the excruciating pain.

THERE IS HELP OUT THERE! You really need someone helping you- because I know the depression that's caused making one phone call after another to doctors/clinics only to be let down time after time. The worst is the secretary or nurse telling you they give the medication & dose you need, then you waste your time & energy to go to them only to be let down in-person no matter what you say to them.I have no one helping me, so I had no choice.

I know the symptoms you are having all too well.

My new clinic is in Beth Isreal Hospital in NYC which is a long painful trip, but I have no choice. I had heard they have the best pain clinic in all NY state. From what I've seen so far, that is 100% correct and I have very good first impression skills.

They have several types of meds to stop and prevent migraines. Our daughter had to take Imatrax injections for them. the newest one might be Frova which stops them and prevents them. Then Zomig, maxalt, and prophylaxis. They are also very expensive. The migraines could also be causing most of your other problems to. Don't know which of these you have tried but I would start with the newest first if you can afford them. Good luck.

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceThey have several types of meds to stop and prevent migraines. Our daughter had to take Imatrax injections for them. the newest one might be Frova which stops them and prevents them. Then Zomig, maxalt, and prophylaxis. They are also very expensive. The migraines could also be causing most of your other problems to. Don't know which of these you have tried but I would start with the newest first if you can afford them. Good luck.

ekgman1, If you can afford one I think a pain pump that mounts outside the body (ford cost savings) would be your best treatment. On some cases it only takes 1/300 as much meds in a pump as in pills etc. Good luck and hope you can get the right help.

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceekgman1, If you can afford one I think a pain pump that mounts outside the body (ford cost savings) would be your best treatment. On some cases it only takes 1/300 as much meds in a pump as in pills etc. Good luck and hope you can get the right help.

I have never heard of a pain pump for outpatient use that does not get surgically implanted, and "mounts outside the body". Can you tell us more or better yet, post a link to the manufacturers of this device?

Thanks, Annette

Thanks for your Reply!

Report This| Share this:Extremely High Medication toleranceI have never heard of a pain pump for outpatient use that does not get surgically implanted, and "mounts outside the body". Can you tell us more or better yet, post a link to the manufacturers of this device?

http://professional.medtronic.com/pt/neuro/idd/prod/index.htm Copy and paste URL above to search bar and search. Sorry I have not replied sooner. If this happens not to work do a Google search or Yahoo search for medtronic pain pumps. Pump at this site is external and even has a remote if you need an extra shot of JOY JUICE> Good luck and if it don't work, e-mail me back

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